Calcineurin, a calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase, is involved in movement, fertility, egg laying, and growth in Caenorhabditis elegans

Calcineurin is a Ca(2+)-calmodulin-dependent serine/threonine protein phosphatase that has been implicated in various signaling pathways. Here we report the identification and characterization of calcineurin genes in Caenorhabditis elegans (cna-1 and cnb-1), which share high homology with Drosophila and mammalian calcineurin genes. C. elegans calcineurin binds calcium and functions as a heterodimeric protein phosphatase establishing its biochemical conservation in the nematode. Calcineurin is expressed in hypodermal seam cells, body-wall muscle, vulva muscle, neuronal cells, and in sperm and the spermatheca. cnb-1 mutants showed pleiotropic defects including lethargic movement and delayed egg-laying. Interestingly, these characteristic defects resembled phenotypes observed in gain-of-function mutants of unc-43/Ca(2+)-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) and goa-1/G(o)-protein alpha-subunit. Double mutants of cnb-1 and unc-43(gf) displayed an apparent synergistic severity of movement and egg-laying defects, suggesting that calcineurin may have an antagonistic role in CaMKII-regulated phosphorylation signaling pathways in C. elegans.